Queen Victoria Mediterranean Cruise: 7 Nights Through Spain, Italy and France

We stepped back on a ship we had not sailed for ten years. Queen Victoria, one of the four Cunard sisters, sometimes overlooked next to the iconic Queen Mary 2 or the newer Queen Anne, but a ship with its own magic and its own style.

Over seven days she would take us through some of the most breathtaking places in the Mediterranean: the South of France, the heart of Tuscany, the Balearic islands, and a city that draws travellers from every corner of the globe.

Our story begins in the heart of Catalunya, in a place we used to call home. Barcelona means different things to different people: the home of Lionel Messi, a cool global city with the Instagram beach, the city of Gaudí. For us it is all three, plus a fourth reason. This is the city where, twenty years ago, we met. Lee and I studied here for three years after arriving in 2006.

We arrived a day before our cruise, giving us 24 hours to see the new, the familiar, and a building that had been under construction long before we arrived and will still be under construction long after we leave.

We threw ourselves straight into the busiest part of town around La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter, intense even by our memory of it, before finding quieter streets around the cathedral. We even stopped by my old apartment for a quick nostalgia hit.

We arrived at an important moment. Just the week before, the Pope had visited to celebrate completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ, one of the church's key elements. Sagrada Família may now be the most iconic church in the world, and none of it would be possible without the genius of one man, Antoni Gaudí. His fingerprints are all over Barcelona: Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, Park Güell, all iconic, but Sagrada Família is otherworldly.

We continued to Gràcia, the neighbourhood where our school was based back in 2006, and ate at La Gavina, the same salami pizzas as twenty years ago.

The next morning we had a few hours before boarding, enough time for the Mercat de la Boqueria, a camera moment even in 2006 and just as wonderful now. I picked up some saffron for my mum.

We had sailed Queen Victoria three times before, always through the Canary Islands at Christmas, but in the years since we had sailed Cunard mostly on Queen Mary 2 and, last year, the 107 night World Voyage on Queen Anne. The ships had merged in our memory into one giant Cunard block, and the specifics of Victoria had gone blurry.

Walking on board, we were shocked. She is stunningly elegant. We recently compared Queen Mary 2 to Queen Anne on this channel and talked about their grand lobbies. Victoria's lobby beats them both. It is a work of art.

We stayed in a balcony room, similar to Queen Mary 2 in layout, but with a nicer, more open balcony, better suited to summer sunsets.

Out on deck 3, the promenade blends the walking-track feel of Queen Anne with the sweeping, traditional promenade moments that work so well on Mary. Wooden loungers, uninterrupted views, benches, lockers. That unmistakable Cunard feeling.

As the ship set sail, a live band played on deck and Barcelona receded behind us. Ahead: chilled marina vibes, working class Italian ports, a legendary party island, and another Spanish metropolis.

Our first full sea day, Queen Victoria made for the South of France. Breakfast at the Lido buffet, easy to navigate, floor to ceiling windows, good food.

The captain made an unusual announcement, stopping the ship for a few hours that morning to enjoy calm conditions before resuming toward La Seyne-sur-Mer that evening. We took the excuse to relax by the pool.

That evening was the first of two formal nights. The Britannia restaurant on Victoria is a two tier space, grander but more compact than Mary, more traditional than Anne. Dinner was followed by a visit to the Queens Room, a space that combines the best of both her sisters while still feeling like its own.

Most passengers headed into Toulon by shuttle boat. We took a chance on nearby Sanary-sur-Mer instead, a town with a postcard marina and cobbled backstreets, and timed our visit for its Wednesday market.

The gamble paid off. The market was in full swing, the marina area pretty and welcoming, and lunch was excellent despite the town being busy for market day. Narrow streets, cafés, indie stores, locals and tourists alike enjoying the 30 degree heat. At least one ice cream stop was required.

Livorno, in Tuscany, is a working port town, and this time we went all in rather than avoiding it. We explored the Quartiere Venezia, the Medici family's attempt to build their own version of Venice, part run down, part timeless.

Lunch was fresh pasta in a restaurant full of locals, always a good sign. Along the coast toward Terrazza Mascagni we found Bagni Tirreno, a retro lido with striped umbrellas and creaky waterslides, an Italian throwback to Scarborough in its 1980s heyday. The chequered floor of Terrazza Mascagni itself stretched as far as we could see.

Livorno mixes industrial port, ancient town centre, and scenic coastline into something that feels both familiar and fresh.

As we sailed away, something magical happened. Dolphins in the water, moving alongside the ship. A reminder to look up from your phone.

A later than usual arrival, around 11.30am, meant we actually got to watch the ship dock rather than sleep through it, and a late all-aboard time of 8.30pm meant we could enjoy the evening atmosphere most day-trippers miss.

Ibiza is usually associated with house music and legendary clubs. We saw a different side. Talamanca beach, calm and shallow, suited the pace we were after. In the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we climbed toward the fortress for a view back over the harbour, where Queen Victoria sat beside the Virgin ship Valiant Lady.

The later schedule let us have dinner ashore for once, at El Zaguán, ordering pinchos, cold tapas priced per stick, alongside patatas bravas.

Our final stop, Spain's third largest city, was too spread out for free-styling, so we picked a short list rather than risk the stress of covering everything.

The beach surprised us with its scale, one of the widest stretches of sand we have stepped onto. For lunch, paella in its home city, made the traditional way with chicken, rabbit, and artichoke rather than the seafood version most people expect. In the city centre, a quiet Sunday but striking architecture throughout.

Our final night on board meant Bamboo, the speciality dining venue we have booked on every Cunard voyage for years, back when it was still called Lotus. Three courses of Far Eastern food closed out an exceptional week of dining, from the Lido buffet to the Britannia restaurant to Bamboo itself.

Before flying home, we took one last walk through Barcelona, away from La Rambla this time, back to Gràcia and our old university, where a former teacher, Gabriela, showed us around the new campus. The school has changed. Barcelona has changed. But Queen Victoria, a decade on, is exactly as beautiful as we remembered, and this time we will not leave it so long before sailing her again.